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Rethinking the food bank: It’s no longer just about handing out food to the hungry

By Laurie MonsebraatenSocial Justice Reporter

Sat., May 12, 2012

Nick Saul is having another “wow” moment. Literally.

In giant blue capital letters, the word seems to dance on the office wall behind him as Saul speaks excitedly about his latest plan to turn the food bank concept on its head.

Nick Saul aims to change the way Canadians see food banks and food. “Food is one of the ways we can find common ground,” he says. “It is a beautiful way to organize and bring people together.” (Colin McConnell / Toronto Star)

“I want to harness the power of food to connect, empower and create knowledge and skills — and hope and self-worth,” he says.

“Other than checking your humanity at the door and picking it up on the way out — how can (the food bank) experience be fuelling self-worth and hope and a sense that things can change?”

“The idea is to try to change the conversation and to see food as this tool that can build community and health rather than just make people feel smaller.”

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Saul, 45, who 14 years ago transformed a dreary west Toronto food bank into a centre for social change, is leaving The Stop Community Food Centre to spread the model nationally.

As founding president of Community Food Centres Canada, Saul’s goal is to raise $20 million to open 15 affiliate centres across the country by 2017 — and revolutionize the way Canadians view food, health and poverty.

He is well on his way: A centre in Perth, Ontario opened in January and a second in Stratford opens next fall.

The Stop’s program director Kathryn Scharf is also leaving to become vice-president of the new organization. And together, they plan to add three more centres every year until 2017.

The idea grew out of Saul’s frustration that food banks, which began some 30 years ago as a temporary response to an economic downturn, are now a fixture in every Canadian community.

“We need a more honest conversation about food banks and how they aren’t a solution to hunger,” he says. “They have become such a part of our culture that we don’t actually stop to question what they are doing.

“Are they reducing hunger? Are they setting people on a new path? Are they creating good health?” he asks. “ I would say no to all of those things.

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“Do they divide us as citizens? Do they create a moral release valve to let government off the hook? Are they making us sicker? Yeah.”

The Stop operates out of the ground floor of a public housing building on Davenport Rd., west of Caledonia and was a rundown food bank when Saul arrived as executive director in 1998.

“Ceiling tiles were falling in, there were rodents, bugs ... I remember looking at wilted lettuce and bananas you could practically drink and wondering, are we really going to give this out?”

And so began what Saul calls The Stop’s “natural evolution” from food bank to food centre.

Over the years, Saul introduced a community kitchen and garden, cooking classes, drop-in meals, an outdoor bake oven and food market, all focused on healthy food and social connection. He added specialized programs for expectant mothers and kids and along the way, some of the kitchen helpers and gardeners became peer mentors and community activists.

“Food is one of the ways we can find common ground,” he says. “It is a beautiful way to organize and bring people together.”

Not everyone comes and feels beautiful, Saul admits.

“It’s still hard. There are bomb threats and fights in the drop-in. It’s ruthless in lots of ways,” he says. “But it’s also inspiring. People coming in and finding their voice and finding a job and moving into better housing That’s what sustains me.”

In 2009, The Stop launched a satellite site at Artscape Wychwood Barns, a restored TTC streetcar repair facility on the edge of Forest Hill. The Stop’s Green Barn, which features a 3,000-sq.-ft. greenhouse, classroom, catering kitchen and a Saturday farmer’s market, draws well-heeled foodies and international acclaim. Visits from food celebrities such as renowned British chef Jamie Oliver helped spread the word.

“I don’t think we would be replicating our work or scaling up our model if we hadn’t had the Green Barn,” Saul says.

Meantime, Do the Math, a campaign championed by The Stop, challenges politicians and community leaders to live on the meagre income of someone receiving social assistance. A similar campaign, Put Food in the Budget, born out of the province’s poverty reduction initiative, urges Queen’s Park to introduce a healthy food benefit to help those on welfare buy food and pay the rent.

“If we can take what we’ve done here and start to populate the country with like-minded organizations that are thinking along those lines, we can begin to make real change.”

Saul acknowledges his outspoken criticism of food banks has ruffled a few feathers.

“I think there is room for all models,” she says, quick to point out that 70 per cent of The Stop’s food comes from Daily Bread’s distribution centre.

“Many of the food banks run meal programs, cooking programs, all kinds of things. No one model is the answer,” she says. “But all of us together can make a dent in this. So I’m very supportive of what they are trying to do.”

Businessman Michael MacMillan, former head of Atlantis Alliance Films and a board member for Community Food Centres Canada, acknowledges the growing variety of food programs.

But the community food centre model knits them together in a way that is measurable and that moves the dial on poverty, hunger and poor health, he says.

“What appeals to me is this is not about being a food bank, handing out food to people who are hungry,” he says. “The idea is using food as a tool for community building.”

Interest from other Ontario communities that want to emulate The Stop, convinced Saul to think beyond Ontario’s borders.

“I just think the model sings,” says Nancy Wildgoose who was inspired by The Stop to turn her local food bank into The Table Community Food Centre in Perth, about an hour southwest of Ottawa.

“It really resonates in the community, both with people who donate to the food bank and the program participants,” she says.

“I know people decry food banks,” she says. “But if we can also offer community, if we can offer ways to get together and share a meal in dignity, then it takes away some of the stigma and it more completely addresses what people’s issues are.”

Stratford’s community food centre, still in the planning stages, is opening in conjunction with a food distribution centre for area food banks.

But instead of supplying typical food bank fare heavy on starch and salt, the centre is hoping to provide healthy, sustainable food from local farms and factories.

“It is a bit different from what The Stop is doing,” says executive director Steve Stacey. “But it’s how this model is adapting and responding to the needs of different communities.”

The vision is simple: Each centre will be eligible for up to $200,000 in one-time capital grants to build commercial-grade kitchens, activity rooms and outdoor gardens. Another $350,000 in annual operating grants will pay for a minimum of five staff and some programming.

Centres will be expected to fundraise locally so national support as a percentage of total funding will drop over time.

An online learning network will provide organizational resources and programming for affiliates and other community groups looking to adopt some of the community food centre concepts.

Centres will be audited annually and the national office will collect and evaluate data for an annual report. Knowledge will be shared through an annual conference.

Together, Saul hopes the new centres will develop a national voice for a more sustainable food system for everyone. His ultimate goal is for governments to see the value and fund them much like they support community health centres.

“If we can pull this off and build a really strong national organization that can provide some funds and inspire others into the funding game — either publicly or privately — that’s fantastic. I hope it’s infectious.”

The giant blue letters in Saul’s office — purchased long ago from antique shop and likely part of a sign from a demolished building — were originally set up to read “MOM” to delight his children, now 12 and 8, he explains.

He’s not sure when, or who, suggested they should be turned upside down. But he acknowledges the letters, repurposed from a crumbling business and now animating his life, is a metaphor for what he hopes will eventually happen to food banks.

For Saul, the urgency is clear: “Our food should never make us sick, damage our planet or divide us as citizens.”

Food Facts

•900,000 Number of Canadians used food banks in 2010

•50 Percentage of people who need food banks but stay away out of shame

•$6.6 billion Annual estimated cost of unhealthy eating in Canada

•38 Percentage increase in number of working poor in Canada between 1998 to 2008

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